No. 14 Loyola sweeps Saturday doubleheader with No. 8 Mobile

MOBILE, Ala. – The Loyola University New Orleans baseball team made a statement Saturday afternoon in Mobile, defeating the eighth-ranked Mobile Rams twice to claim its seventh straight three-game series. Loyola (22-10, 9-3 SSAC) won 12-9 to start the day before an 18-1 blowout win to backend the series win over Mobile (21-6, 7-2).

Loyola will next host Dillard on Tuesday for a non-conference matchup at 5 p.m. before hosting No. 5 Georgia Gwinnett next weekend for its last non-league weekend series of the season.

#14 Loyola 12, #8 Mobile 9

Mobile jumped out to a 3-0 lead through the first two innings, but on the backs of Cole Romero’s big day, the Wolf Pack took a lead late to earn the win and even the series. Romero went 4-for-5 with seven RBI, two home runs, two runs scored and a double to pace the Loyola offense.

In the top of the third and trailing 3-0, Romero picked up his first RBI with a single to score Aaron Davis, then a two-run home from by Davis and solo shot by Brandon Mooney during consecutive at-bats in the fourth inning gave Loyola a 4-3 lead. Romero then picked up his first home run of the game in the next inning, giving the Pack a 5-3 advantage, then his RBI double in the sixth put the team up 6-3.

The biggest damage for the Loyola offense came in the seventh, blowing the game open with six more runs. Mooney singled to score the first two runs, 8-3, and after a Christopher Bohrer walk loaded the bases, Romero smacked a grand slam to push the score to 12-3. The Rams tried to make it a game with six runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh, but Matthew Weil closed to the door on the mound with his first save of the season.

#14 Loyola 18, #8 Mobile 1 (7)

The Wolf Pack completed the Saturday doubleheader sweep with multiple crooked numbers on the scoreboard in the series finale. They started with five runs in the first, then a six spot in the third and another five-run inning in the fifth gave Loyola complete control.

Mooney and Tucker Ganley quickly got Loyola going with a single and a double to take a 1-0 lead, then Kason Cullins, Bohrer and Jake Mills each picked up RBI on singles to bring the score to 4-0. Tyler Hopkins brought the inning’s final run home on a fielder’s choice, 5-0, as well.

Leading 6-0, a bases loaded hit by pitch with Mooney at the plate scored the first run of the third inning, and a single by Ganley one batter later brought two more home, 9-0. Then, Romero scored two more runs with a single and and Cullins kept the offense going with another single to score one more run, 11-0. Fernandez, Bohrer, Mills and Davis all collected RBI in the fifth inning, extending the advantage to 17-0 and keeping all of the momentum with the Wolf Pack.

The Pack added another run in the sixth inning for good measure before Mobile could get on the board in the bottom half.

Thomas Hakimian kept the Rams off the board through the first five innings before giving up the Rams’ lone run in the sixth. The freshman allowed seven hits during his outing, getting the Mobile offense to groundout eight times and fly out five times to earn his second win of the season.

Pack Facts
Loyola has now won seven three-game series in a row. This is Loyola’s first series win over Mobile since the 2018 season.

The Wolf Pack have scored 11 runs or more in five straight games. It’s the longest streak of double-digit run games for the Pack this year.

Loyola’s 18 runs in the second game of the doubleheader are the most in any game this season. It’s also the second-highest scoring output for the team in the last two seasons.

Loyola’s four home runs in Saturday’s first game were the most for the Wolf Pack in any game this year. It also matches last year’s season high.

Brandon Mooney accounted for one of those home runs, his first in a Wolf Pack uniform, putting together a 5-for-5 day at the plate with three RBI and three runs scored.

Before this season, no Wolf Pack player had posted at least five hits in a game since 2008. Now, two different players have done that this season, as Jake Mills also had five hits against Talladega on March 4.

Cole Romero, who had two home runs, drove in seven runs in the first game of the day, the most RBI in a single game for any Wolf Pack player this year.

Romero now has a 12-game hitting streak, longest on the team, reaching base in 49-straight games dating back to last season.

Three different Wolf Pack players now have multi-HR games this season: Romero, Landon Trosclair, and Anthony Fernandez.

Aaron Davis had the other homer for the Pack.. It was the sixth of his career.

Nathan Monceaux got his fifth pitching win this season. His 5-0 record leads the team.

Loyola had its best two hitting games of the season against Mobile on Saturday, with 15 hits in the first game and 19 in the second.

For the second time in the series, a season-high 10 different players got a hit for the Pack: Mooney, Romero, Davis, Fernandez, Monceaux, Tucker Ganley, Kason Cullins, Ryan Smilari, Christopher Bohrer, and Jake Mills.

You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.